Even though we all new that our quest was a strange one, we thought it best to get right to it. There was no way that the Abbot's plan with Vasilka would ever work, but he did promise us healing to rid us of our painful curses, so we were compelled. We left Vallaki and snuck our way back to Vallaki; through deep forests and over rushing rivers. Luckily we did not encounter any minions of Strahd and managed to sneak back into the town and get to our safehouse.
We quickly learned that not only had the Vallakovich's been over thrown, but a cult, worshipping the Devil, had taken over Vallaki. Were they there at the behest of the Wachter family? These cultists wore golden devil masks, are well armed, and have taken over all of the guard posts and patrols in the town. They still leave the south gate for the most part unguarded. Muriel's update from the Martikovs indicated that no more than thirty or so cultists had been seen in one place at one time, but there could be many more.
The Baron's mansion was our target location for the wedding dress we sought, so we sent out a scouting party comprised of our most talented and stealthy scouts: Tetsuo, Akkiir, and Nim. They learned that the mansion was under guard by Cultists; two guarded the front door and one the back door. There were also infrequent patrolling guards. Drapes covered all of the windows and light could only be seen illuminated on the south side of the house and one window on the west side.
While scouting, my friends saw an opportunity they could not refuse and it went from a scouting party to an official burglary. They noticed the rear guard going off into the bushes to relieve himself and took that opportunity to dash to the back door and enter the house. The room beyond was a modest kitchen with a cook going about his chores. He was initially startled, but soon seemed to realize that the Grim Order were not working with the Gold-Masks and willingly told them where the Baron and Baronness likely were in the building.
They decided to take the stairs from the kitchen to the second floor into a fancy gallery with a couple of door-filled hallways on one side and grand windows looking over the yard on the other.The great Lady of Fortune must have been watching over them, even through the gloom of this realm, for they investigated the first hallway and soon enough had their prize! They could hear low talking from a door at the end of the hall, but choosing not to investigate, they tried the second door which led to a changing room with the wedding dress on a mannequin.
They wrapped the dress in bedrolls and quietly made their escape through a second floor window. They used some of Tetsuo's mystic arts to create an area of silence so that the breaking of the glass would not alert the guards or occupants of the house. They managed to slip away stealthily without raising alarm, with their prize in hand. Soon they were on their way back to the safehouse, taking the most shadowed route they could.
While they were out burgling, we were having a strange encounter with our ghostly house guest. Once again, a ball came bouncing out of the corner of the room to land at our feet. I decided that I would try to interact with the ghost or whatever it was this time, in the hopes of learning something useful. I talked to it in soothing tones as if talking with a child and tossed the ball back and forth for some time with the invisible visitor.
When first realizing that the ghost was back Uphir leapt at the corner and dug her axe deep into the wall, trying to hit what she suspected was that cursed doll from Berez. No sound or sight of the entity was ever detected. There were no more new doll-sized footprints in that corner ar anything except for the ball which represented anything physical with this phenomenon. Was it the evil doll? Or perhaps something more or perhaps less diabolical? We were not able to learn more during this trip to Vallaki.
Wel left the town just as quickly as we could and snuck back out of the village, taking our normal circuitous path back to Krezk. At the Luna River crossing we encountered a large group of Lost Children and soon battle was begun. I climbed a nearby tree for a good vantage point while the fighters squared off to meet our enemies and Janlynn called forth her Spirit Guardians to defend us. Swirling and swooping transluscent angelic spirits wove about our immediate area, flashing in divine light when they came in contact with enemies, causing immeasurable damage to them all.
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